The men’s soccer team made it to the NCAA II quarterfinals with an undefeated 20-0-2 record. In a close game that went into overtime twice and was decided by penalty kick, the soccer team fell to Cal Poly Pomona.
“The season as whole went really well. We stuck together through and through, it is unfortunate to lose this way but this is how soccer goes sometimes. If you take it to a penalty kick shoot out it is a flip of a coin, so it can always go either way,” Alex Mullet, defender and finance junior, said.
The first half ended with a score of 0-0. Taylor Lampe, goalkeeper and exercise physiology redshirt freshman, saved four shot attempts by Cal Poly Pomona. The men’s soccer team had nine shot attempts in the first half.
The second half was more aggressive. At the 40:05 mark, Sebastian Venegas, midfielder and business management sophomore, made a goal. Not long after, Lampe missed a Cal Poly Pomona penalty kick and the score was 1-1. The game was tied until the 15:26 mark when the men’s soccer team made another goal. Pierre Bocquet, midfielder and business senior, kicked the ball up toward the goal and Scott Doney, forward and psychology senior, got the ball in the goal. They were in the lead for a little while, but at the 8:19 mark the score was matched at 2-2. The score was not changed, so the game went into overtime.
At the 4:56 mark of overtime, Koby Sapon-Amoah, defender and finance redshirt sophomore, assisted the ball to Carlos Flores, midfielder and sports medicine freshman, to make the shot, but it was blocked by the opposing goalkeeper. The first overtime had no score change, so the game went into another overtime. The second overtime was just as the first. With 20 extra minutes added onto the game, the score was still 2-2. The winning decision would be made by penalty kicks.
“It was a great game. We played our hardest but missed many opportunities, but in the end they got the best of us in penalties,” Carter Richards, kinesiology junior, said.
There were six penalty kicks shot before the end of the game. Doney and Bocquet were the first two kickers for the men’s soccer team. Ross Fitzpatrick, midfielder and exercise physiology sophomore, and Patrick Fitzgerald, defender and kinesiology junior, were able to make their kicks past the goalkeeper. Lampe was not able to stop the Cal Poly Pomona kicks that were made in between the MSU kicks. Mullet was the last MSU player to make the kick. Jordan Speed, defender and business senior, kicked the ball and it bounced off the post. Cal Poly Pomona was able to make the opposing kick and won the game.
“I thought we played pretty good at the start, it was pretty even at the end of the first half. Then going into overtime I didn’t know what to expect. I was hoping we came out with the win, even though we didn’t I am still proud of the guys for fighting,” Christian Oseguera, business junior, said.
This brings the men’s soccer season to a close with an overall record of 20-0-3.
The rest of the team, as well as coaches, were not able to comment.